Why do we have to wait for winter to enjoy the sweet flavor of a favorite Mexican hot beverage, Champurrado? In the heat of summer, it’s all about homemade ice cream in our household. Inspired by the thick hot chocolate drink, we developed this recipe for homemade Champurrado Ice Cream, a creamy, rich delight that carries with it all the delicious notes of the favorite Mexican beverage: chocolate, cinnamon, piloncillo, masa, and cream.

Combine the masa harina with the 1 ½ cups water and the canela in a medium pot and cook over medium heat, stirring with a whisk until it begins to bubble.

Add the Mexican chocolate, piloncillo, molasses, and star anise. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring until everything is melted and blended together.

Discard the canela and star anise. The longer the Champurrado is simmered, the thicker it will become.

Set the champurrado base in the refrigerator to chill.

For the Ice Cream:

In a small pot, simmer cream, milk, sugar and salt until sugar completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat. In a separate bowl, whisk yolks. Whisking constantly, slowly whisk about a third of the hot cream into the yolks, then whisk the yolk mixture back into the pot with the cream. Return pot to medium-low heat and gently cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer).

Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cool mixture to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or overnight. We cover it with saran wrap pressed down to the mixture so it does not create a skin or light film.

Churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. Add in the Champurrado mixture and continue to churn until it’s the texture you want. Be careful not to over churn as you will lose some of the creaminess to the ice cream.

Serve directly from the machine for soft serve, or store in the freezer until needed. We grated some of the Mexican chocolate on top of our ice cream when we served it. ENJOY!